DIY Cardboard Balance Scale Experiment

30 mins Ages 4-6 Indoor

A playful, screen-free adventure designed to spark curiosity, sensory exploration, and fine motor skills for kids aged 4 to 6.

Materials Needed

  • • Plastic clothes hanger with strap notches (1 unit)
  • • Paper cups (2 units)
  • • String or yarn (1 meter)
  • • Assorted small weights (pennies, erasers, small blocks) (12–15 items)

Pro Tips

  • → Hang the setup on a doorknob so it swings freely without friction.
  • → Ask: "Which object is heavier before we place it in the cup? How will the hanger tip?"
  • → Use standard non-standard units (e.g., "This eraser weighs 4 pennies").

Safety First

Keep small counting items (like marbles) away from younger siblings.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

1

Step 1

Punch two opposite holes below the rim of two identical paper cups using a hole punch.

2

Step 2

Tie equal lengths of string to each cup to make two hanging buckets.

3

Step 3

Suspend the buckets from the notched ends of a plastic clothes hanger and hang the assembly from a doorknob.

4

Step 4

Place different items in each bucket (coins vs. crayons) to observe which side drops and how to balance the scale.

What they are learning

Fulcrum and lever balance physics Comparative mass measurement Relative weight estimation